President Kennedy decided to embark on the trip to Texas with
three basic goals in mind: he wanted to help raise more Democratic Party
presidential campaign fund contributions; he wanted to begin his quest for
reelection in November 1964;and, because the Kennedy-Johnson
ticket had barely won Texas in 1960 (and had even lost in Dallas), President
Kennedy wanted to help mend political fences among several leading Texas
Democratic party members who appeared to be fighting politically amongst
themselves.

Little did anyone ever imagine that this day in history would
forever be remembered for changing the American Presidency forever!At the end of this day the United States
would have a new President of the United States with the swearing in of Lyndon
B. Johnson aboard Air Force One.

Sequence of
events November 22, 1963

11:25 am.After an overnight at Ft. Worth, Air Force One departed Carswell
AFB for Dallas. It was a short flight aboard Air Force
One.

11:40 am.Arriving at Dallas Love Field where a reception line of Dallas
dignitaries, including Mayor and Mrs. Earle Cabell waited at
the bottom of the stairs with a bouquet of red roses for Jackie.

President and Mrs. Kennedy deplane in Dallas

A reception line of Dallas dignitaries greeted the President and First Lady

The rain had cleared and the temperature was
in the 60s so, by a standing order issued by JFK himself, the car’s bubble top
of the Presidential limousine was not installed over its occupants in order to
give the people of Dallas a more intimate view of the President and his party.

The President and First Lady spent almost 15
minutes mingling with the excited Love Field crowd before climbing into the
back seat of their convertible limousine, joining Governor and Mrs. Connally
who occupied the jump seats.

The Presidential Motorcade Departs
Love Field

Vice
President Johnson’s Limo and USSS Follow-Up Car

12:30 pm.As the motorcade
made its way through a very large turnout of supporters, the open limousine
heads west through Dealey Plaza when President Kennedy was fatally shot and Texas
Governor Connally was seriously wounded by an assassin later identified as Lee Harvey
Oswald.

1:00 pm. The
President was rushed to Parkland Hospital and pronounced dead after arriving
at Parkland Hospital.

Parkland Hospital Emergency Room

Boarding
Air Force One

2:28
pm. Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as
president aboard Air Force One with Jackie Kennedy at his side.

LBJ would serve out JFK’s term as President; he ran for reelection in 1964 and won. It was later in 1965 that I was interviewed and accepted an assignment with the White House Communications Agency and spent nine years providing communications for the White House!

White House Communications Agency (WHCA) has searched their files for
assassination-related records and was able to locate several statements from
WHCA personnel who were on duty at various locations at the time of the
assassination of President Kennedy. These statements were found in a folder
titled “PRES KENNEDY ASSASSINAITON”. Copies of the statements are attached.
There is no other assassination related material in the folder, except the list
of telephone calls recorded by the White House switchboard on 22 November 1963,
previously forwarded to your office.

The Dallas White House switchboard had been established in the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel

WHCA Trip Officer for Presidential Visit to Dallas,
Texas

CWO Arthur W. Bales, Jr.

The following is approximately the sequence of events, as recalled by the
undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963

THE WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS
BRANCH

SUBJECT: Sequence of
Events – 22 November 1963

TO: Commanding Officer, WHCA

1. Prior Communications Arrangements: The Dallas White House had been
established in the Sheraton-Dallas
Hotel, and Communications facilities included a one-position switchboard with 3
dial trunks, 2 LD’s 3 tie lines to the Fort Worth White House Board, 1 tie line
to the Sheraton-Dallas Hotel Bd., 3 extensions to Love Field, 4 extensions to
the Dallas Trade Mart (site of the President’s scheduled speech), secure
teletype equipment, and radio and phone patch facilities to cover the motorcade.

2. Planned schedule of Events: The undersigned was to cover the President’s
arrival at Love Field and, with the Special WHCA Courier, travel in the
motorcade and cover all stops to include the President’s departure from Dallas.
SSGT Robert D. Brazell, with six men, were manning the Dallas White House; and
seven men, making the Texas circuit aboard the Press Plane, were to remain at
Love Field, as they would not be needed in Dallas. A recoding technician,
Specialist John Muhlers, was set up and stationed at the Dallas Trade Mart to
record the President’s speech and to furnish audio feeds to the various news
media.

3. The arrival and Motorcade: Air Force One
landed and the President spent some time shaking hands and greeting the large
crowd at Love Field. The motorcade then departed for the trip through downtown
Dallas and to the Trade Mart. In the WHCA Communications Car were: A telco
driver; the undersigned WHCA Advance Officer; the WHCA Courier, Mr. Gearheart;
and the Telco special representative (or “Shadow”), Mr. Herb Smith. We were
approximately six cars and two (Press and Staff) buses behind the President.
The motorcade had just passed the last buildings on the route before entering
the freeway to the Trade Mart. The WHCA Communications Car was around two
corners from and not in sight of the President’s car. Three explosions were
heard, and I thought that they were backfires from vehicles up ahead. Herb
Smith remarked that firecrackers were inappropriate for the occasion. Then the
USSS Agent riding with the President announced on the FM “Charlie” radio,
Lawson, he’s hit”. The motorcade came to an abrupt halt with one bus and the
WHCA car still around two corners from the President. Realizing that emergency
communications facilities may be required on the spot, I instructed the driver
to get Mr. Gearhart immediately to the vicinity of the President and to keep
him there regardless of my own location. I, with the Telco representative, Mr.
Smith, then started running toward the scene of the shooting. As we rounded the
first corner the motorcade suddenly raced away. I commandeered a police car and
instructed the driver to take us immediately to the Parkland Hospital. We
arrived short minutes after the President

4. The Parkland Hospital: The very limited telephone facilities at the hospital
were tired up by the members of the Press Pool. I immediately seized all but
one line (leaving Merriman Smith on the one most remote from the Emergency
Rooms) and established direct circuits to the Signal Board in Washington; the
Dallas White House Switchboard; and to the Signal board via the Dallas and Fort
Worth White House Boards. I assigned police officers to guard these phones and
instructed the individual Signal Operators in Washington who were on these
circuits to handle no other calls, but to guard these lines exclusively. I then
ordered six lines in to the hospital from the Dallas White House Board and
informed appropriate White House Aides of my actions. I then checked back with
the Dallas White House and learned that SSGT Brazell had, on is own initiative,
ordered in an additional switchboard position, 3 additional dial trunks, 4
trunks to Washington, and had alerted Telco to the possibility of further TTY
facilities being required. I instructed SSGT Brazell to direct four of the
seven men (Press Plane Riders) at Love Field to report to me at the hospital,
and the other three reports to him at the hotel. The six lines to the hospital,
the four trunks to Washington, and the additional TTY facilities were cancelled
before completion. As the WHCA personnel arrived from Love Field, they replaced
the police officers who had been guarding the seized telephone lines. At the
appropriate time I instructed Mr. Gearhart to remain with the President
Johnson, and they left shortly for Love Field. I remained at the hospital and
later went to the field with (the body of) President Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy,
instructing the WHCA personnel to remain at the hospital until released by the
White House Staff personnel who were remaining there a while longer. Meanwhile,
I had advised Captain Stoughton, WHCA Photographer, and SP5 Muler (Recording –
stationed at the Trade Mart) of President Johnson’s return to Air Force One:
enabling Captain Stoughton to be the only photographer aboard when the
President took his oath of office. Muler recorded the proceedings, and the tape
was returned to Washington via Colonel McNally aboard the Press Plane.

The following is approximately the sequence of events, as recalled by the
undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963

PHYSICAL SITUATION

1. 1 Position 555 PBX
trunking to Washington through Ft. Worth with no direct connection to

Washington.
2. 3 City Dials

3. 3 LD Toll Terminals

4. Radio on top of
PBX

CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

1. Complete relaxation
waiting for parade to arrive at luncheon site.

2. (1230) A Sudden
blaring of radio “Lead us straight to the hospital he’s been shot – repetition

“He’s been shot.”

3. Realization of inadequate facilities to handle
any emergency of this type.

4. Placed order for
additional 555 positions, additional dial trunks and more extensions in the Room even before the party arrived at
the hospital.

5. Party reached hospital and all dial trunks
lit up immediately.

6. Direct connection
set up immediately between Agent directly outside of emergency room and Mr. Behn in his office in Washington
which became the Washington Command Post and he cleared the house. Ordered to
monitor the circuit which was done to the best of our ability, on top of moving regular
traffic

7. Calls from members
of the President’s family bridged into the Behn-Emergency room focus. (E.g. Attorney General asked whether a priest had been called.)

8. Constant advisement on the location of the Vice President.

9. Made arrangements with police to have WHCA Press Plane party rushed to hotel
for use as needed.

10. Dispatch of part of
this contingent to assist at the hospital on CWO Bales’ orders.

11. Mr. Kilduff ordered the return of the delegation enroute to Japan immediately upon perceiving the seriousness of the situation. Placing of this in the hands of the WHCA Duty Officer in Washington.

12. Answering calls with extension on top of PBX; then routing them to proper spot. Utilized radio man Lukens on “hold and wait” calls.

13. President Johnson returns to aircraft.

14. Second peak of calls for day doing such things as finding Judge Sarah T. Hughes to swear in the President and find someone in the Department of Justice to dictate the oath of office. Vice President Johnson personally spoke to the clerk In Judge Hughes’ Office.

15. By this time the telephone company had performed a near miracle and
installed the second 555 position with three
additional dial trunks on it.

16. An effort was
being made to bring up four full periods back to Washington but desisted when It became obvious that the need for them was almost over.

17. as a general comment: enough traffic passed through that one position 555
as should normally have gone through a 3-position PBX at full throttle.

SSgt Brazell

PS: The Switchboard operator recalls placing a call from
Attorney General to Air Force One prior to the swearing in ceremonies; he does
not know to whom he spoke but feels it was to the Vice President.

WHCA Signal Board and Communications Center handled traffic from Dallas and other sources.

Chief Switchboard Operator, Signal
Switchboard, Washington, D.C.

MSG
Tarbell,

The Following is
approximately the sequence of events, as recalled by the undersigned, in
Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963

On November 22, 1963 the first indication of any sort of trouble
in Texas was a short UPI release which came in on the printer in the Comm
Center at approximately 12:30 p.m. stating that the President had been shot in
Dallas, Texas. We here at the Washington Switchboard had heard nothing of any
trouble. However, shortly after we received this we received an incoming call
from Agent Emory Roberts in Dallas asking for Chief Wildy and then right after
this call another call from Mr. Bales at the hospital in Dallas, asking us to
stay on the line and keep the circuit open. One operator did just that. We
actually did not get official word of the assassination. The Information via
radio and of course, there were many rumors as to who had been killed or
wounded. First reports had it that an Agent had been shot along with the
President. Of course, not having any official word, we could not give out any
information.

As the minutes passed it became more and more apparent that what was just rumor
was not fact and at approximately 2:05 p.m. official word was released that
President Kennedy had been shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in
Dallas. Immediately after the announcement, the switchboard went completely
wild with everyone attempting to call out and anxious wives trying to call in
to find out if their husbands were all right. The Sterling Exchange within a
short time became overloaded and we could not dial out. The focal point for
calls here at the White House was John McNally’s office in the East Wing with
Senators and Congressmen proceeding there. It soon became apparent that one
line off of our board could not handle traffic so five (5) additional temporary
lines were asked for and were installed at 1645 to Mr. McNally’s office.

We had no direct lines to Dallas, Texas off our board. We had
full period loops to Fort Worth, Texas and they worked Dallas off their board.
They only had a two position 555 and could not really handle too large volume
of traffic. They were able to advise us when the oath of office was administered
to President Johnson and when Air Force 1 took off from Dallas. As soon as it
was ascertained where the body of President Kennedy was to be taken we started
asking for lines to that location. One line to the Naval Medical Center was
installed at 1850 and an additional line to same location was put in at 2052.
During the time that Air Force 1 was enroute back here, we had a constant phone
patch up to them with President Johnson calling various people here in D.C. and
in Texas.

At this time we only had one line off our board to the President’s residence on
52nd Street, N.W. It was decided that this would not be sufficient to handle
traffic so five additional lines were installed to that location at
approximately 2200. Also at the same time, we had President

Johnson’s commercial phone disconnected at
this residence.

The personnel on duty here at the Signal Switchboard on the day shift of course
did not leave at 3:00 p.m. when the shift ordinarily ends, but stayed on duty
until approximately 7:00 p.m. with the exception of me and I went home at 11:00
p.m. after a long and hectic day.

Never in all my experience on the switchboard have I ever seen a board so busy
for such a great length of time. It was an experience which all of us here at
the Switchboard do not want to see this happen again at least in our lifetime

(Sgt. Tarbell)

Chief Operator, Communications Center,
Washington D.C

SFC
Carriger

The
following is approximately the sequence of events, as recalled by the
undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November 1963

Someone handed me a bulletin from UPI stating that President
Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Tex. I immediately called Sgt. Tucker and
passed info to her. Her immediate reaction was “Oh, you’re kidding me”,
repeated several times. After I had somewhat convinced her that info received
over UPI news circuit, she said she would pass to Major Patterson.Next I took bulletin to Mr. Harmon, the Duty
Officer. He was on phone at the time trying to get verification and
amplification of facts. All later releases were passed to Mr. Harmon to
centralize all info.

We were working Dallas via TWX. We immediately called Dallas
and kept them “up” on the TWX. We next attempted to get a full period on-line
ckt with Dallas. I don’t recall if this project was completed. Next, we
re-activated full period on-line ckt to Ft. Worth. This took approx. two hours
to complete due to the fact the circuit had been released to Telco
earlier.

Comm Center personnel were calling in for instructions. Advised to “stick close
to phone” and if anything developed, we would advise. Some of the evening trick
personnel reported for duty as much as one and a half hours early and some of
the day trick personnel stayed on duty until President Johnson returned to
Wash, D.C

There
were no increases in traffic during this time. However, later that night, we
started receiving messages of condolences from various heads of State.

During the return flight of AF-1 from Dallas, we were working the aircraft via
KW-7. The operator aboard the aircraft was so busy that he could not attend the
ckt. We attempted to relay three or four
messages of condolences to AF-1 (one of the messages was from Queen Elizabeth)
but were unable to ascertain that the message was received.

Polly
Yates, Asst. to General Clifton

We informed Polly Yates of
situation. She said if were unable to get a receipt for the messages, she would
see that they were available for delivery upon PRESUS arrival in Wash. D.C.

We did not get any acknowledgements of Receipt and Miss
Yates was so informed.SFC CARRIGER

Operator, Communications Center,Washington,
D.C

SP
4 WhiteThe following is approximately the sequence of
events, as recalled by the undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November
1963

Someone handed me a bulletin from UPI stating that President
Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Tex. I immediately called Sgt. Tucker and
passed info to her. Her immediate reaction was “Oh, you’re kidding me”,
repeated several times. After I had somewhat convinced her that info received over
UPI news ckt, she said she would pass to Major Patterson.

Next I took bulletin to Mr. Harmon, the Duty
Officer. He was on phone at the time trying to get verification and
amplification of facts. All later releases were passed to Mr. Harmon to
centralize all info.

We were working Dallas via TWX. We immediately called Dallas and
kept them “up” on the TWX. We next attempted to get a full period on-line ckt
with Dallas. I don’t recall if this project was completed. Next, we re-activated
full period on-line ckt to Ft. Worth. This took approx. two hours to complete
due to the fact the circuit had been released to Telco earlier.

Comm Center personnel were calling in for instructions. Advised
to “stick close to phone” and if anything developed, we would advise. Some of
the evening trick personnel reported for duty as much as one and a half hours
early and some of the day trick personnel stayed on duty until President
Johnson returned to Wash, D.C.

There were no increases in traffic during this time. However,
later that night, we started reviving messages of condolences from various
heads of State.

During return flight of AF-1 from Dallas, we were working the
aircraft via KW-7. The operator aboard the aircraft was so busy that he could
not attend the ckt. We attempted to relay three or four messages of.

SP4 Witte

Operator,
Communications Center, Washington, D.C

SGT
Bodenstiner

The following is approximately the sequence of
events, as recalled by the undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November
1963

I was wandering about
the Comm Center as usual picking up little bits of information about how the
place worked when I was attracted by a series of 5 bells on UPI. I looked over
PFC Russell’s shoulder to see what was about to appear. There was nothing for
what seemed like a long time, but was probably less than ten seconds, and then,
on a line, in a shaky hand came UPI’s bulletin heading “….Dallas, with
Kennedy….” The text consisted of five words on line, gabled, misspelled and
unsteady, “Kennedy, Connelly shot, possibly fatally.” and then nothing.

Russell jumped and said “hey you guys look at this!” The guys were SGTS
Dreyllinger and Bodensteinger who were standing by the TWX. Dreylinger and
Bodensteiner laughed slightly, as one would at a bad joke (which, it turned
out, is what they thought it was). I went around to check the patch board to
make sure someone hadn’t plugged UPI onto a different machine and put a piece
of our gear at the other end of the monitor I had been watching in order to see
what kind of action they could get out of duping a couple of new bodies in the
Comm Center (It had been a slow afternoon). For a full minute people just
walked around in circles, Russell and I affirming that we had actually seen the
bulletin come in on the monitor (although admitting the possibility that
someone at UPI might be wanting to lose his job in a hurry), and the rest of
the Comm Center personnel becoming more and more convinced that the bulletin
was real. AP came in with a confirming bulletin in about 70 seconds after UPI.
Someone called the Duty Officer. A couple of people, including me began to ring
up the trip sites and put them in uppers.

Someone in the front office began to call up
off duty personnel and have some of them report to the Comm Center. SFC
McCullough began to get the suitcases down from above the ECTRRM gear. I spent
the rest of the afternoon passing general info and info from the news services
to the
trip sites.

Patrick and I went home at the usual time,
more to get us out of the way than for any other reason.

I was working on a circuit near our UPI and AP
news monitors when one of the other operators, who had been reading the news,
told me that the President had been shot. My first reaction was that I though he was only joking

He then told me to
come and read it on the UPI monitor myself. This still didn’t convince me that
it was true, thinking that he could have easily typed it on the machine himself
as a joke. I no sooner had told him that wasn’t a very nice rumor to start when
I saw a more detailed item come over our AP monitor. We then told the other
operators and the D.O. was notified.

The next hour or so was spent mostly between watching the news for the latest
developments and informing our personnel that were out at the various trip
sites on this tour of the President.

The rest of the day followed the general routine for a normal day, except for the atmosphere of and the conversation among the operators on duty.

Most of the operators on the day shift stayed over three to four hours after the normal shift change in case of any unexpected occurrence.

SGT BODENSTEINER

Air Force One 26000 Radio Console

Radio Operator, aboard AF-1 for the
flight from Dallas to Washington D.CMSG John Trimble

The following is approximately the sequence of
events, as recalled by the undersigned, in Dallas, Texas, 22 November
1963

After an overnight at
Ft. Worth, Air Force One departed Carswell AFB at 1125 AM (Local Time) for
Dallas. After a short flight we arrived at Dallas and blocked in at 1140
AM.

After the rain storm of the previous night the sun seemed particularly bright
as the President and First Lady deplaned to the warm greeting of what was
probably the largest crowd of the Texas tour. The Last we were to see of them
together was when they departed the airport in their open car.

The first indication
that anything was amiss came when one of the WHCA representatives, Theron
Burgess, who was on duty at the airport, told me that someone in the motorcade
had been hurt. My first reaction was that one of the Secret Service Agents had
fallen from the car. About 15 minutes later we were told the ready the airplane
for immediate take-off. At this time we were not told why we were leaving or
what our destination would be. No information was forthcoming at this time and
since we at least needed a destination for flight clearance purpose Col.
Swindal asked me to check with the switchboard. After identifying myself to the
switchboard operator he told me that the President had been shot and that no
other information was available. This was relayed to Col. Swindal although he
had just heard it himself from another source.

My communications
equipment had been on since receiving the immediate take-off order. I had
cleared a voice and teletype frequency with Andrews Airways. Even though I was
using the call sign AF 26000 and could not tell the reason for clearing a voice
frequency, Andrews cooperated fully. I was making periodic signal checks with Andrews
when someone entered the airplane and said the President was dead.

All the chatter ceased and I think we were all numb and did out jobs automatically as we waited for the body to arrive from the hospital; waited for President Johnson; and finally for the judge to arrive and perform the swearing-in ceremony. We departed Dallas at 1447 Dallas time for the three hour flight to Washington.

I was busy every
minute of the trip and had three phone patches going simultaneously for much of
the time. The normal HF air to ground communications had to yield to higher
priority traffic. Some position reports were sent, some were not. Quite a bit
of time was spent by Dr. Burkley and General Clifton in the air and General
Heaton on the ground concerning removal and preparation of the body after
reaching Andrews.

My circuits were in continuous use and Andrews always had a waiting list of various officials who wanted to communicate with the airplane. Due to the limited facilities on both ends, many times I had to decide who we would talk with next. I had a good knowledge of the Kennedy team and don’t think I made any mistakes in this respect. We had been cleared to
an altitude of 29,000 feet upon leaving Dallas. I was able to send one of the
few position reports over Nashville and found that we were then at 41,000 feet
because of winds and weather.

About this time I received a call from the
rear of the plane saying that President Johnson wanted a phone patch with Mrs.
Rose Kennedy. I immediately seized my best frequency and placed the call
through Andrews and the WHCA switchboard. A short time later both the President
and Mrs. Johnson offered their condolences to Mrs. Rose Kennedy. These Mrs.
Kennedy accepted in a strong, clear voice.

A few minutes later I
placed a call, again through the WHCA switchboard to the wife of Governor
Connally in Dallas. Both the President and the First Lady talked with Mrs.
Connally and assured her that the Governor would be all right.

The rest of the flight
was about as hectic as the first. We landed at Andrews and blocked in at 1805
local time.

A large crowd and many
bright lights were visible when the doors were opened. Mrs. Kennedy was
scheduled to leave by another exit but insisted on being lowered to the ramp
with the remains. She entered the ambulance and accompanied the body out of
sight.

After President
Johnson made his very short talk and departed, I remember thinking what irony
that this terrible thing had to happen at all --- but to have it happen in the
United States. Somehow it was still unbelievable.

Notes: These 3 motorcycle officers ride ahead of the motorcade at Main and Houston to cut off Stemmons Freeway traffic (Lawrence Exhibit 2). Moorman #3 shows McBride and a portion of Bellah's motorcycle (Mack and author's interview with Jean Hill, 10/15/92). After the shots, Bellah reports to Dealey Plaza (DPD Recordings). Officer TA Hutson testified that he thought Garrick was at the entrance of the Depository shortly after the shooting (7H28). McBride's actions are unknown.

Notes: At Main
and Houston Brewer and Freeman join the 3 Advance Motorcycles to assist in Stemmons
Freeway traffic control, leaving Ellis, Grey and Lumpkin leading the motorcade
through Dealey Plaza (Lawrence Exhibit 2). None of the three leave the motorcade
as is claimed to be seen in the Zapruder film, as all three can be seen beyond
the underpass in the Bell film and in the McIntyre photograph. Ellis, Grey, and
Lumpkin escort the motorcade to Parkland (author's interviews with Ellis and
Lumpkin, Bowles Manuscript). After the shots and traffic control on Stemmons,
Brewer reports to Dealey Plaza by driving back the wrong way on Elm Street.
Freeman goes on to Parkland (Lifton). However, Officer TA Hutson testified that
he thought Freeman was at the entrance of the Depository shortly after the
shooting (7H28). Brewer is later inside the TSBD on the 6th floor. Moorman #4, which
is missing, shows Lumpkin and the sixth-floor corner window of the Depository
(Mack).

Notes: SA Lawson
has portable DCN SS radio tuned to "Charlie" frequency, however,
according to Curry it "wasn't working too well" at the time of the
assassination, and thus there was "no radio contact" between the Lead
Car and the Presidential Limousine (Curry 2).

Notes:
"#7" in right-front windshield. Limousine has mounted SS radio tuned
to "Charlie" frequency. All SS agents armed with .38 revolvers. SA
Hill moves back and forth from the SS car to the limousine, finally staying
there following the shooting until arrival at Parkland. Presidential Limousine comes
abreast of and passes the Lead car on west side of Triple Underpass. Limousine
armor plated for President Johnson by Hess & Eisenhart of Cincinnati and is
presently ondisplay at
Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. )

Notes: Chaney
and Jackson stop for a few seconds in Dealey Plaza after shooting. Chaney then
moves ahead and informs Chief Curry that The President has been hit. Jackson
follows him and the two escorts the motorcade to Parkland Hospital (WFAA Tapes,
Bowles Manuscript). Hargis "parks" his motorcycle in the middle of
Elm after the shots and runs over to the north Elm sidewalk near the fallen
Newman family. He returns to his motorcycle and rides under the Triple Underpass
to check the other side. He then returns to Dealey Plaza, specifically outside
the TSBD (6H295-296). Hargis Does not run up the grassy knoll as is often
claimed. Officer Martin escorts the motorcade to Parkland Hospital (Paschall pc
film sequence, Bell film sequence, Daniels film sequence 1, 6H291-292, Bowles
Manuscript).

Presidential Motorcycles

PRESIDENTIAL
SECRET SERVICE FOLLOW-UP CAR

(SS WHCA code-Halfback)

1. SA Samuel A. "Sam"
Kinney

2. ASAIC Emory P. Roberts (SSR)

(SS WHCA
code-Dusty)

3. P. Kenneth "Ken"
O'Donnell-Special Assistant to President

(SS WHCA
code-Wand)

4. David F. Powers-Assistant to
President

*-private color
movie (last sequence 12:25)

5. SA George W. Hickey Jr.

6. SA Glen A. Bennet

7. SA Clinton L.
"Clint" Hill

(SS WHCA
code-Dazzle)

8. SA William "Tim"
McIntyre

9. SA John D. "Jack"
Ready

10. SA Paul E. Landis

(SS WHCA code-Debut)

Vehicle: Black 4 door 1956
Cadillac

Touring 4-door
convertible

Lisc DC #GG 301
- provided by SS

Aka: SS Follow-Up Car SS-679-X (CE 767 & 768)

Secret Service
Follow-Up Car (N&A)

Queen Mary
(Youngblood p.109)

Relevant photos/film: many.

Occupant sources: CE 767, CE 768.
2H68-70 Kellerman,

2H134-136 &
18H809 Hill, 7H472-474 Powers

7H446-447 O’Donnell,
8H 730-765 (SS agent reports)

Notes: Follow-up car has mounted SS radio tuned
to "Charlie" Frequency. All SS
agents armed with .38 revolvers. Hickey has AR-15 Colt .223 automatic rifle. SA
Hill moves back and forth from the SS car to the limousine, finally staying there
following the shooting until arrival at Parkland. SA Bennett moves to limousine
on Main Street and returns to Follow-Up Car. During shooting SA Ready runs
towards the limousine but is called back by ASAIC Roberts
(18H749).

Notes: All SS
agents armed with .38 revolvers. ASAIC Johns has portable DCN SS radio tuned to
"Baker" frequency. Carter has SA Kivett's portable DCN SS radio tuned
to "Charlie" frequency in his lap (7H474). Left rear door is open throughout
motorcade. SA Johns exits car in Dealey Plaza, is left in Dealey Plaza, and
catches a ride in Camera Car #1(18H774).

Notes: Coat on
right rear window deck (Wiegman film). Following the shooting, this car and the
cars forward of this point race off immediately out of Dealey Plaza for
Parkland Hospital. The cars behind this car lag behind in Dealey Plaza,
primarily due to the fact that this and the other camera cars stopped to let
out passengers, with Camera Car #1 leading the rest and still in the Plaza at
least 50 seconds after the fatal shot .(photo/film analysis). Kent Biffle identifies
the driver as a "Texas" highway patrolman" (DMN 11/20/83).

Notes: Wiegman, Atkins, and
Craven jump out of car at head of Elm Street and run up the knoll to film the
Newman’s. Camera Car #1 pulls out of line at the base of the knoll and Wiegman, Atkins and Craven re-enter the
car. SA Lem Johns also enters this car at this point. Camera Car #1 then rejoins
the motorcade between cars #15 and #16. At the Trade Mart it gets out of line
and then rejoins the motorcade again, between cars #16 and #17. It arrives at
Parkland at 12:45-12:50 PM (18H774).

Notes: Jackson
throws exposed film to a pre-arranged film drop at the NE corner of Main and
Houston. The film falls to the ground. This is partially visible in Hughes film
and may explain why Jackson took no photos at the time of the shots. After shots, Underwood, Dillard, and Darnell
jump out of the car at the head of Elm Street. Darnell films the Newman’s (Darnell
film). Couch jumps out of the car at the base of Triple Underpass while Jackson
remains. Underwood and Darnell remain in Dealey Plaza, while Dillard enters car
#13. Couch and some other unidentified photographer(s), (Cancellare, Darnell?)
later get a ride to Parkland from a passing motorist.

Notes: Baker and
McLain are on Houston Street during the assassination (Bowles manuscript).
Baker parks his motorcycle and enters Texas School Book Depository following the
shots (3H249). Baker is later at Parkland Hospital (3H268). McLain escorts the
motorcade to Parkland.
Baker mistakenly identifies McLain as L.W. Williams in his Warren Commission
testimony (3H268).

Notes:
"#2" in left front windshield. Dillard jumps on rear trunk and gets
ride to Trade Mart and Parkland. Jim Wright identified from photos the man in
the #3 positions as one W.R. Poage, Jr., however T can find no reference as to
his being in this location, nor in the motorcade, yet several sources place
Congressman Rogers in this car. Seth Kantor's handwritten notation on the White
House List and his 3/5/93 letter indicate Poage was not on the trip. CE 768 incorrectly
places Congressman Albert Thomas in this car.

Notes: Julian
Reed visible getting in or out of left rear door in Willis 6 photo. Exits right
rear door at Parkland (Wiegman film). According to researcher Mary Ferrell,
this vehicle was originally scheduled to carry Washington Press Representatives
and to be driven by TDPS officer. Remarkably, this vehicle was actually Mrs.
Ferrell's own personal vehicle with only 2000 miles on it (authors interview
with Mary Ferrell, 3/5/930 and Buck Ferrell 3/21/93.

Notes: Courson
escorts the motorcade to Parkland (author's interview of Courson, Bowles
manuscript). Haygood parks his motorcycle at North Elm curb and runs up the
grassy knoll to the Overpass in to the railroad yards. Minutes later he returns
to his bike, encounters James Tague and Charles Brehm, and reports to the rear
of the TSBD. He is later inside the TSBD on the 6th floor (6H306).

Notes: Sign
affixed to side of bus, "White House Press". McNeil and Cabluck exit
Press Bus and go up knoll. MacNeil enters the TSBD and calls NBC at 12:34 PM
CST. Dudman and others also exit the bus (McNeil, author's interview of Dudman
and Cabluck 4/17/88).

White House Press Bus

LOCAL PRESS POOL CAR

1. Lewis Harris-DMN Editor

2. Mike Quinn-DMN

3. Kent Biffle-DMN

4. Larry Grove-DMN (NPOA)

Vehicle: Chevrolet 4-door hardtop
(?)

Aka: Local TV and Press Auto (CE
768)

Relevant photos/film: Bond 6.

Occupant sources: DMN 11/23/63,
4/5/81, 11/20/83.

Notes: Biffle
exits car and runs up knoll. He then enters the Depository along with a WFAA TV
reporter (probably Tom Alyea). Grove also exited the car. Harris, in the DMN 11/20/83
article, insinuates that this car and the occupants unofficially joined the
motorcade at Love Field, rather than having been a planned vehicle.

Notes: Jackson
throws exposed film to a prearranged film drop at the NE corner of Main and
Houston. The film falls to the ground. This is partially visible in Hughes film
and may explain why Jackson took no photos at the time of the shots. After shots, Underwood, Dillard, and Darnell
jump out of the car at the head of Elm Street. Darnell films the Newman’s (Darnell
film). Couch jumps out of the car at the base of Triple Underpass while Jackson
remains. Underwood and Darnell remain in Dealey Plaza, while Dillard enters car
#13. Couch and some other unidentified photographer(s), (Cancellare, Darnell?)
later get a ride to Parkland from a passing motorist.

Camera Car # 3

EXTRA CAR #1

1. Driver

Vehicle: Grey or blue Chevrolet
hardtop provided by Earl Hayes

Chevrolet
Dallas through Sam Bloom

Aka: extra cars (CE 767) extra
Car (CE 768 & N&A)

Relevant photos/film: Bond 8
(partial), Paschall film.

Occupant sources:

Notes: Occupied
by only one person for use as extra vehicle in case of a breakdown of any other
motorcade vehicle

WESTERN UNION CAR

1. R.C. Johnson - Sales Manager,
the Western

Union Telegraph
Co.

2. (FNU) Yates - Sales Manager,
the Western

Union Telegraph
Co.

Vehicle: Black 1957 Ford hardtop
provided by Western Union

Aka:

Relevant
photos/film: Bond 8, Paschall film, misc. video.

Occupant
sources: 21H420. Semingsen Exhibit No. 3001, Attachment 7

Notes: Occupied
by two persons

Chrome trim, fins, sign affixed to
driver-side door

Extra Car # 1

WHITE HOUSE SIGNAL CORPS CAR

1. Chief Warrant Officer Arthur
W. Bales, Jr.

US Army, US
Signal Corps (SS WHCA code-Sturdy)

2. Ira Gearhart-US Army (SS WHCA
code-

The
Bagman/Shadow/Satchel) (NPOA)

Vehicle: White 1964 Chevrolet
Impala hardtop

Sedan 4-door
(white Pontiac Curry p.16)

Aka: White House Communication
Car (CE768)

USA Signal Corps
Car (N&A)

Relevant photos/film: Paschall
film, misc. video.

Occupant sources: CE 768.

Notes: CWO Bales
has portable DCN SS radio and is monitoring both "Baker" and
"Charlie" frequencies.

WHCA Vehicle Placard

EXTRA
CAR #2

1. Driver

Vehicle: White over dark blue or
black 1964

Chevrolet Impala
hardtop Sedan 4-door provided

By Earl Hayes Chevrolet Dallas through Sam
Bloom

Aka: extra cars (CE 767) extra
Car (CE 768 & N&A)

Relevant photos/film: Paschall
film, misc. video.

Occupant sources:

Notes: Occupied by
one person, Extra of any other motorcade vehicle in case of breakdown

Search This Blog

Featured Post 8-10

About Me

Information about the White House Communications Agency and my experiences from 1965 to 1973. Including the Presidential Emergency Microwave Facilities built in the 1960's. Experiences at Camp David, Cannonball Tower(1965-1970). Accounts of several overseas support trips including the Presidents trip to China, a look at President Nixon's Western White House in San Clemente CA, and The Flordia White House in Key Biscayne FL.